I’m a really big fan of the notion of ‘anti-design’. Just take a look at this website. It’s almost unusable. It’s a fucking google doc.

This website is old and outdated. Our Facebook page has lots of Followers, but nobody seems to fucking care. Instagram is a fucking scam.

What do we do? What should we do? I wish our Bandcamp had a Blog feature, with RSS and emailed updates to people. That would be awesome. . . then we could just kinda shut down everything else (including this website), and have everything funnel through there.

I got to play a show in Hong Kong. That was amazing. There’s now a link to a Live Stream in HK that I did that was pretty killer.

Ultimately, I just wish there was a way to funnel all of the contact that we’ve had with all of you into one really easy to manage place, and let you all know that we’re doing things. That would be really fucking nice.

20181010 • There’s lots of things brewing, and lots of things to do.

I bought a battery powered 4 channel cassette multitrack, and I look forward to both making music with it, and performing that music live. We started making/releasing CD-Rs. DTF just received a shipment of Red VHS tapes. Tshima releases an LP soon. It’s all very exciting.

20180723 • A Note on Radical Transparency

A couple of years ago, I started a Google Doc that I called ‘The Videopunks Codex’, that was going to be a landing page for all things The Basement Labs. I’ve mostly forgotten about it, and there’s a lot of interesting stuff in there. Mostly, there’s notes on projects that I never really got to do, or I’ll never get a chance to do, and rather than just lose those thoughts out in the aether, I think it’s a good idea to get everything down.

I feel like a lot of Projects/Labels/Whatever are really precious, and secretive about what they do. I think, from now on, I’m going to try and be more open about everything, because we’re really standing on the shoulders of giants.

Consider this a stepping stool. Go out, and make dope art.

Table of Contents

FAQ

Glossary (in no particular order)

Start Your Own Fucking Label

Technical Details (that we use all the time)

See Also (Mostly Wikipedia Links)

Questions (presumably with answers)

FAQ

Who are you?

The Basement Labs is a VHS Label based in NYC and Worcester, MA. It was started in Diogenes the Fox’s Basement in Glastonbury, CT in 2003.

The two main folks over at tBL are Mike Videopunk (that’s me), and Diogenes the Fox. We’ve got some super tight homies that I consider to be tBL folks (T S H I M A, Employee #6817, Solarsteinn, etc), But really it’s the two of us.

Fox is shy. I have a big mouth. It all works out.

Why VHS?

VHS is Physical.

VHS is (relatively cheap)

VHS is cool.

VHS is a particularly robust archival format, all things considered. A really well mastered Hi-Fi VHS tape rivals CD in it’s audio quality, and will sit on a shelf for 30 years, and still retain data.

A lot of the work we release is Internet Art. . . But what happens when YouTube/Vimeo/Facebook/Instagram goes away? That work shouldn’t disappear.

How do you know so much about Video stuff?

I grew up in a TV repair shop in Glastonbury, CT.

Where can I learn more?

Search ‘Video Circuits’ on Facebook.

Where can I source Translucent VHS tapes?

They don’t exist anymore. We bought them all.

Why does it take so long?

Currently, I’m the ONLY one doing the VHS dupes. I’ve got a full time job, and sometimes it’s harder to make the whole thing work than others.

Where’s my order?

It’s coming. I see your order. I’m working on it.

Gear Breaks. A Lot. All of this shit old. Sometimes, we gotta wait for gear to replace the old gear, but you can’t just walk into Best Buy to grab this stuff.

Software Breaks. A lot. Everything we do is kinda legacy at this point, so we gotta kinda hack our shit together to work.

‘Videopunk’ is anything that comes out of hacking together and/or recontextualizing Old Analog Video Gear. If you’ve ever pointed an HD camera at a CRT, or figured out how to get your laptop hooked up to an old Edirol V4, then you’re a Videopunk.

Who are “Videopunks”?

Videopunks was Mike Videopunk & Hex Taylor, jamming live. Videopunks ended when Hex & I split up. I’ll never not be bummed out about it. . . Hex is my favorite Glitch Artist ever, and I wouldn’t be here without them.

Aren’t you that guy from ANGELSPIT?

Kinda. I toured as a VJ/Live Member of Angelspit from 2010-2012. They’re still active. Http://ANGELSPIT.NET

Weren’t you in We Are Temporary?

Kinda! I was a touring member of We Are Temporary for a couple of years! I fucking love Mark, and his wife is the fucking best. http://wearetemporary.com/

#Sadhouse are a series of A/V live mixes that Hex & I started. I’ll probably continue doing them, once I have some space.

Melancholy, Garage-Influenced, deep house, 110bpm.

What is Videohaus?

Videohaus was a failed experiment. Videohaus is no more.

Will you ever reissue X?

Probably not. . . There’s just too many cool things to release in the future!

What’s the Videopunk Archive?

Since we started putting out VHS tapes, folks have reached out to us, telling us about their VHS releases. . . So, I’ve tried to buy at least 1 of everything I can find.

The idea is to create an archive of Contemporary Videopunk VHS Based Video Art, and hopefully put it in a place where it will be publicly accessible.

There are gaps in the history of video art, and I’m trying to preemptively fill one of those gaps.

What’s up with VHS-C?

They fucking suck. The Adapters suck. The tapestock sucks. Are you thinking about doing a VHS-C release? Here’s a tip: FUCKING DON’T.

Do you use recycled tapes?

We used to! Now, we try to source New Old stock tapes.

Where do you get your tapes?

Ebay.

Google.

If we tell you, and you blow out our stock, we’re toast.

Glossary (in no particular order)

Cat. no

Catalog Number (used to identify a release)

Format

What physical medium a release is done as (Cassette, VHS, LP)

Timebase Corrector

“A 'timebase corrector' or 'time base corrector' -- often simply referred to as a 'TBC' -- is a device that corrects the signal and/or image quality of video tapes, especially VHS and S-VHS tapes. “ - from DigitalFAQ

Lo-Fi

“of or employing sound reproduction of a lower quality than hi-fi.”

Codec

“a device or program that compresses data to enable faster transmission and decompresses received data.”

Typically, the set of instructions in a video to Compress/Decompress/playback a file.

Start Your Own Fucking Label

But First. . . Why?

We live in a time where A LOT of artists we know will never get a chance to have a physical release. This is especially common among Video/Glitch artists.

Once Youtube/Vimeo/Instagram goes away, where will your work live? It can only sit on a hard drive for so long.

We here, at The Basement Labs, have come up with both an interesting and cost effective solution:

Fucking VHS Tapes.

We love VHS. It’s Cheap. It lasts Forever. If you damage the tape, you can splice it, and still get SOME data off of it. It’s reliable. . . and it keeps the weirdo freakout straight-to-video tradition alive.

A Note on Pricing/Availability: Don’t be a dick. Don’t force your fans to buy $40 VHS tapes. Fuck You. Cost shouldn’t be a barrier for entry, both for Creating Tapes, and Collecting Tapes. We’re going to charge <$10 for as long as we can. The idea isn’t to make a shit ton of money, it’s to put multiple backups of this art out in the world, on people’s shelves, so these works can survive.

It’s not (strictly) about commerce, it’s about survival.

Use this information for Good, not Ill. If you get really fucking rich, break us off a piece.

8x VCRs with S-Video In (YMMV, but S-Video is visibly better than composite video in literally all things.

1x 8 Input Passive Video Switcher

1x CRT Monitor w/ Speakers

Here’s the Routing:

Intensity -(S-Video + RCA Audio)-> Powered Distro Amp

Distro Amp -(S-Video + RCA Audio)-> to 8x VCRs (separate lines)

8x VCRs -(Composite + Audio)-> 8 input passive Video Switcher

Video Switcher -> CRT (for review)

Here’s the Process

The Master Video is compiled in a sequence in Adobe Premiere CC 2018, with a DV NTSC 4:3 Sequence Preset. Make sure there’s 2 seconds of black at the head of your sequence, and there’s nothing but black at the end of the sequence.

Once the Master is fully rendered for Playback, load all 8x VCRs, but DO NOT START RECORDING

Playback from the MIDDLE of the Timeline, Spotchecking to make sure ALL 8 VCRs are getting sound and picture, using the Passive Switcher to check.

If all your VCR’s are the Same Make/Model, you can use a SINGLE IR Remote to control all the VCRs.

Rewind all the tapes, go the head of your sequence, Press Record on the Remote. . . and after 10 seconds, hit start on your timeline.

Let the tapes record all the way through. Once they’ve totally filled up (with black from the end of your sequence), the tapes will stop and Automagically rewind.